Judge Sides With L.L.Bean In Return Policy Challenge

11 Jul Judge Sides With L.L.Bean In Return Policy Challenge

A federal judge has rejected an Illinois customer’s lawsuit challenging L.L.Bean’s new policy that put limits on the company’s famous lifetime guarantee.

In February, the retailer put a one-year limit on most returns in February to reduce abuse of its satisfaction guarantee. Less than a week later, Victor Bondi sued in U.S. District Court in Chicago, calling the policy change “deceptive and unfair” in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Chicago.

The suit noted that Bean’s policy was a “core component” of its marketing, and that customers who bought products before the change did so believing they could return them at any time if they weren’t satisfied.

“The warranty was a basis of the bargain with the sale of L.L.Bean products,” the suit alleged. “Because of L.L.Bean’s unilateral refusal to honor its warranty, plaintiff and the other class members were harmed and have been deprived of the benefit of the bargain.”

Dismissing the suit, Judge Robert Gettleman ruled that Bondi failed to establish that he’d suffered a loss or was dissatisfied with the boots he bought in 2017 before the return policy change. The judge noted that Bondi never attempted to return items to Bean and that Bean never said it intended to stop honoring the old warranty on items bought before the policy change.